Keneally vows 'blowtorch' on Dutton over asylum-seeker arrivals by plane

Labor’s new Home Affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, has vowed to put “a blowtorch” on Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton over the largely overlooked blowout in asylum seekers arriving by plane over the past four years.

Senator Keneally, one of the winners among new Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese’s frontbench appointments, quickly had to defend herself against verbal attacks from Mr Dutton, who said she had a record of not supporting tough border protection measures.

A former NSW premier, she said that with a dedicated home affairs spokesperson, Labor would be able to “apply a blowtorch” to Mr Dutton’s performance.

“That’s what I intend to do.”

Senator Keneally has in the past written about her misgivings over the key policies of boat turnbacks and offshore processing, though she did not exactly express opposition to them.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Dutton nonetheless seized on her written columns in The Guardian from 2015 and 2017 as evidence there was “nobody less qualified in the Labor Party on border protection matters than Kristina Keneally”.

“Look, it’s something that I don’t think she can explain, and Kristina Keneally really has to have a mea culpa at some point and come out and explain why she’s had an epiphany that she believes now – credibly – she can occupy this portfolio.”

Senator Keneally said yesterday: “I completely accept and endorse the approach of boat turnbacks, offshore processing and regional resettlement. But I believe we can secure our borders and still treat people humanely.”

She said she would be pursuing the government over the Australian Border Force’s troubled Cape Class patrol boats, as well as blowouts in visa processing and citizenship applications.

She said people were waiting for partner visas for two years. There were more than 230,000 people waiting on their citizenship applications.

She added Labor would be keeping a close eye on the national security architecture under the relatively new Home Affairs Department.